Serdian War
Serdio is not split in two merely by geography: Basil and Serdio have been at war, hot and cold, for 20 years, since then-Prince Doel murdered his brother King Carlo. After Carlo's death, Albert was named king and Doel didn't like that idea so they separated into different empires, and the war began. Emperor Doel tells Albert he killed King Carlo because Carlo was weak. Imperial Sandora, the kingdom Emperor Doel annexed, on the south end of Serdio, has been at war with those who oppose his rule, based in Bale. Bale has become the second center of power in Serdio, its country named Basil. This is intolerable to Doel, who aims to get control of all of Serdio. Until recently the war had been evenly matched, and a truce was declared some time in the last ten years. Sandora gained a Dragon, Feyrbrand, tipping the balance of power in their favor. They broke the truce. Greham headed the 2nd Knighthood of the Kingdom of Basil but is a traitor to all of Basil and is now in service of Sandora. Thirteen years ago, he betrayed unto death Lavitz's father Servi Slambert, former Head of the 1st Knighthood. Ten years ago, Basil suffered a setback when the Fifth Knighthood of Serdio was almost wiped out in the war with Imperial Sandora. Apparently the Sandorans did take prisoners, and even had some success with turning Basil's soldiers against them. The former second-in-command of the Fifth Knighthood now lives in the underground fort in Kazas with his wife and three year old child, torn between his former and current life. Breaking of the Truce The war since the truce has become inextricably linked with the machinations of the Man In Hood Lloyd, who began his preparations for restarting the war years before. The power relationship between Diaz/Zieg/Frahma, Emperor Doel and Lloyd is a very difficult one to measure. In other words, how would we apportion blame? One thing we can be sure of is that Lloyd is not a flunky on the lowly level of the head of Hellena Prison Fruegel, who despite openly disobeying or at best reinterpreting without authority his orders from Doel when he razes Seles, is utterly dominated by Lloyd's interpretation and administration of Doel's authority. Three years ago Lloyd meets "Emperor Diaz" in the ruins of the Capitol City Kadessa and becomes taken in by his plan to "regenerate" the world and create a utopia. The First Knighthood of the Kingdom of Basil is wiped out shortly before the burning of Seles and abduction of Shana. The only survivors were Lavitz Slambert, Head of the 1st Knighthood, and those few knights that he later rescued from death in prison in Hellena. With the help of Dart, Lavitz was able to escape and report the fate of his men to the king. The slaughter of the First Knighthood was later accounted as a "miscalculation" by King Albert's tactician, the Man in Hood. Emperor Diaz/Zieg/Melbu Frahma conspires with Emperor Doel and Lloyd to capture Shana and lock her up in Hellena Prison. Fruegel enters Seles under the orders of Emperor Doel and in the company of the Man in Hood; utterly without authorization, but without any objection that we see from Lloyd (unless we count their violent confrontation in Hellena Prison), he also attacks Seles, burning it to the ground and killing its residents. As the lady in Seles tells it, reinforcements from Castle Indels are fended off by the guardian creature Urobolus at the Limestone Cave. Although they fail to save Seles, the Basil soldiers' fight against the serpent may bring it closer to death; if so, they are instrumental in getting Dart and friends through the cave alive. Dart returns to Seles from his search for the Black Monster just after Seles is attacked by Greham, the Green-Tusked dragon Feyrbrand, Fruegel, and the Great Knight Commander of Sandora. The Eighth Knighthood of the Kingdom of Basil is stationed at the fortress town of Hoax at the conclusion of the war. Kaiser, Head of the 8th Knighthood, collaborates with another of the Knighthoods to defend Hoax, though they suffer severe injury to both body and morale after the raid of Hoax. The exhausted soldiers later rejoice with the defeat of Feyrbrand and name the dragoons "messiahs" of the Kingdom of Basil. The Tenth and Thirteenth Knighthoods of the Kingdom of Basil are stationed at Seventh Fort in the Marshlands. Both are overwhelmed by an attack of the dragon Feyrbrand. When Dart, Lavitz, and company arrive, they are met with the gruesome scene of their slaughter. At his last breath, the head of the 10th Knighthood recognizes Sir Lavitz and warns him of the dragon's poison; as his last act, he hands over his lucky amulet, a Wargod Amulet. Invasion of Basil With the First, Tenth and Thirteenth Knighthoods of Basil completely wiped out, the Fifth and Eighth presumably demobilized for at least ten years, and the Hoax soldiers and soldiers at Bale badly damaged, Basil suffers its greatest loss of the war, even after the Dragon Feyrbrand has been killed. Bale falls under brutal attack by Sandoran forces, and "so that the people in Basil could be safe", as Haschel puts it, King Albert offers surrender of Bale and himself as a hostage. There are no reports of fighting after this point, so it must be assumed that Sandora at the very least decides to rest their troops before making any more assaults on Basil, or they are prepared to honor the ceasefire. The dragon significantly reduces resistance in much of Basil's lands; the forces of Sandora risk a rallying of the remaining Basil forces to occupy the city of Bale. The effect of the rescue of King Albert, at once removing a bargaining chip from Sandora, breaking easily assumed terms of the ceasefire, and having a salutary effect on Basil's morale, is not shown. Platinum Shadow It is unclear how far "Emperor Diaz"'s and Lloyd's influence extends to other countries and their activities, as regards the first war or the breaking of the truce. What is abundantly clear is that the other nations were all thrown into chaos by Lloyd's schemes. Even in Basil, The Man in Hood is seen in Albert's throneroom, with a place of honor at his side, all the while plotting to remove the Moon Gem from Albert's body. In Tiberoa, King Zior's dominion of the nearby city of Donau is completely overrun by brigands and thieves, and his daughter is kidnapped and held for six months, and her coming of age ceremony prevented by the theft of their sacred Moon Object. In Mille Seseau, the castle is torn to the ground by the Divine Dragon, the Moon Mirror stolen, the queen kidnapped and the city damaged. Aftermath It seems clear that a war weary Sandora has no reason to continue their assault on Basil after the death of Emperor Doel. The heroes succeed in bringing peace to the people of Serdio. http://jade-dragon.wikidot.com/timeline Category:Plot elements Category:Serdio Category:Serdian War